Director Ron Howard’s new film ‘The Missing” is a western/suspense thriller with well-defined themes of religious faith, the strength of family and a woman’s fight to overcome adversity. Co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett are a great team and also give powerful performances individually. With this release Howard adds another wonderful movie to his already impressive directorial resume, which includes “A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13” and “Cocoon,” among others.
Set on the lawless desert plains and plateaus of New Mexico during the 1800’s, “The Missing” is the story of a father and daughter reuniting at a time of crisis. Jones plays Samuel, a white man who abandoned his wife and daughter decades ago to live with Indians. Seeking forgiveness, he returns to his now-adult daughter Maggie, played by Blanchett, and is met with rejection. He departs, and the next day his granddaughter Dot (Jenna Boyd) is kidnapped by renegade Indians. When the local authorities refuse to help Maggie find her, she has no choice but to ask for her father’s help. The rest of the movie is a race to rescue Dot before she is taken across the Mexican border and sold into prostitution. The crisis comes to a climax with a final confrontation atop a steep plateau.
Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of this strong woman is powerful and honest. From the early scenes showing Maggie working as a doctor to the final confrontation, Blanchett is brilliant. She gives a strong performance depicting the struggle for women’s rights in the 1800’s and the strength needed to survive on the frontier. She deserves an Academy award for her work in this movie.
Tommy Lee Jones puts in a strong performance as well. He gives a real and emotional depiction of a father who abandoned his family to look for a new life, only to return asking for forgiveness. And in the very rare moments of comic relief, Jones shows skill.
Jones and Blanchett work well together, especially in the father-daughter struggles. Director Ron Howard also deserves some credit for the teamwork of the actors, as Blanchett and Jenna Boyd (as Dot) come together to give a moving portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship. Noteworthy as well is Evan Rachel Wood’s performance as Lilly, a very dynamic character. Over the course of the film, she changes from a farm girl who is only concerned with going to the city to see the lights to a woman who can defend herself and who better understands the importance of family.
“The Missing” offers an interesting parallel between Maggie’s Christian faith and Samuel’s Indian spiritualism. Maggie often asks her daughter Lilly to bring her the Bible so she can read a line or two in a time of need, whereas her father relies on spiritual faith when he faces death as well as when he is trying to save Maggie from a curse.
The themes of religious faith, strength of family and the power of women to overcome adversity are presented clearly and honestly. Dynamic characters and a realistic script create an enjoyable movie with a legitimate ending. This movie is not an old-time western, where everyone rides off into the sunset smiling. “The Missing” has an excellent script, and the direction and acting are superb, making it a very entertaining movie all around.
Michael McAllister can be contacted at [email protected]